Shake Shack Inc.
- Open
- 68.78
- Day high
- 69.07
- Day low
- 66.50
- Prev close
- 67.90
- Volume
- 106K
- Mkt cap
- $2.7B
- P/E (TTM)
- 67.8
- EPS (TTM)
- $0.98
- P/B
- 4.9
- P/S
- 1.7
- Yield
- —
- Per share
- —
Shake Shack Inc. (SHAK) is a Consumer Cyclical company listed on NYSE. The stock is down 33% over the past year. Drillr has 2 published research articles covering SHAK.
Shake Shack Inc. (SHAK) financials & analyst ratings
Fundamentals (TTM)
Analyst consensus · 8 analysts
Source: exchange market data + company filings. Figures are trailing-twelve-month or as most recently reported. For informational purposes only — not investment advice.
SHAK earnings date, history & EPS estimates
| Report date | EPS est | EPS actual | Surprise | Revenue | Rev. surprise |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 5, 2026 | $0.31 | $0.43 | +40.8% | $418M | +0.1% |
| May 7, 2026 | $0.11 | $-0.00 | -101.3% | $367M | -1.5% |
| Oct 30, 2025 | $0.32 | $0.36 | +12.1% | $367M | +1.1% |
| Jul 31, 2025 | $0.37 | $0.44 | +18.0% | $356M | -2.1% |
| May 1, 2025 | $0.16 | $0.14 | -12.5% | $321M | -8.3% |
| Feb 20, 2025 | $0.25 | $0.26 | +4.0% | $329M | -1.3% |
| Oct 30, 2024 | $0.20 | $0.25 | +25.0% | $317M | -2.6% |
| Aug 1, 2024 | $0.27 | $0.27 | +0.0% | $316M | +0.6% |
| May 2, 2024 | $0.10 | $0.13 | +30.0% | $291M | -0.3% |
| Feb 15, 2024 | $0.01 | $0.02 | +192.4% | $286M | +2.0% |
| Nov 2, 2023 | $0.10 | $0.17 | +70.0% | $276M | +0.3% |
| Aug 3, 2023 | $0.10 | $0.18 | +80.0% | $272M | -1.0% |
SHAK insider trading activity (SEC Form 4)
| Date | Insider | Type | Shares | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 17, 2026 | Sentell Stephanie Annofficer: Chief Operations Officer | Tax | 639 | $60.00 |
| Jul 7, 2026 | Pendarvis Christianedirector | Grant | 2,480 | — |
| Jun 17, 2026 | Hook Michelle Greigofficer: Chief Financial Officer | Grant | 20,548 | — |
| Jun 12, 2026 | GEORGE LORI Adirector | Grant | 2,754 | $54.48 |
| Jun 12, 2026 | LAWRENCE JEFFREY Ddirector | Grant | 4,589 | $54.48 |
| Jun 12, 2026 | Balbale Sumaiyadirector | Grant | 4,498 | $54.48 |
| Jun 12, 2026 | Walker Tristandirector | Grant | 2,570 | $54.48 |
| Jun 12, 2026 | Flug Jeffreydirector, 10 percent owner: | Grant | 2,891 | $54.48 |
| Jun 12, 2026 | Chapman Charles J IIIdirector | Grant | 4,039 | $54.48 |
| Jun 12, 2026 | Meyer Daniel Harrisdirector, 10 percent owner: | Grant | 6,333 | $54.48 |
| May 27, 2026 | Lynch Robertdirector, officer: Chief Executive Officer | Tax | 2,305 | $62.72 |
| May 27, 2026 | Lynch Robertdirector, officer: Chief Executive Officer | Tax | 3,687 | $62.72 |
| May 18, 2026 | Meyer Daniel Harrisdirector, 10 percent owner: | Buy | 32,258 | $61.88 |
| May 18, 2026 | Flug Jeffreydirector, 10 percent owner: | Buy | 1,000 | $61.30 |
| May 18, 2026 | Balbale Sumaiyadirector | Buy | 4,068 | $61.42 |
Source: SHAK SEC Form 4 filings, latest Jul 17, 2026. For informational purposes only — not investment advice.
See the full SHAK insider & 13F page →SHAK research & analysis
[SHAK] Shake Shack Thesis 2026: A Premium-Fast-Casual-Burger Compounder Rides Drive-Thru and International
Shake Shack Inc. (NYSE: SHAK), headquartered in New York, New York, is a premium-fast-casual-burger + emerging-licensed-and-emerging-international + emerging-drive-thru-and-emerging-digital-and-emerging-loyalty restaurant-chain providing distinctive multi-cycle Shake-Shack premium-fast-casual-burger services to US + Asia + Middle-East + UK + Latin-America + emerging-multi-jurisdiction premium-fast-casual-burger-customer base. Distinctive multi-cycle Danny-Meyer-and-Shake-Shack heritage: founded 2001 in New York-NY by Danny Meyer + Union-Square-Hospitality-Group; 2004 Shake-Shack-Madison-Square-Park-kiosk-establishment; multi-cycle 2004-2015 multi-cycle Shake-Shack-and-Madison-Square-Park-and-emerging-US-multi-state; January 2015 Shake-Shack-NYSE-IPO; 2015-2024 multi-cycle Shake-Shack + multi-cycle-disciplined-bolt-on-M&A + multi-cycle-emerging-US-multi-state + multi-cycle-emerging-licensed-international; 2024 Rob Lynch CEO appointment. Multi-decade strategic-evolution: 2001-2004 Danny-Meyer-and-Union-Square-Hospitality-Group-and-Madison-Square-Park-hot-dog-cart platform; 2004 Shake-Shack-Madison-Square-Park-kiosk; January 2015 Shake-Shack-NYSE-IPO; 2024 Rob Lynch CEO; 2020-2025 substantial multi-cycle post-COVID + emerging-Drive-Thru + emerging-digital-and-loyalty + emerging-licensed-and-international + multi-cycle-deleveraging. Under CEO Rob Lynch (since 2024, ~1+ year longtime Papa John's + Arby's + Yum-Brands executive) + founder-Chairman Danny Meyer continues, FY2025 closes with selected various aggregate revenue ~$1.30-1.50B, adj. EBITDA ~$170-230M, adj. EPS ~$0.85-1.20, net cash ~$300-400M, and ~42-44M shares outstanding. The first deep-dive — Company-Operated + Licensed + emerging-Drive-Thru-and-digital premium-fast-casual-burger franchise — covers entire premium-fast-casual-burger + emerging-licensed-and-international + emerging-drive-thru-and-digital-and-loyalty business + Shake-Shack-and-emerging-Shake-Shack positioning. Geographic + Unit composition: ~570+ Shake-Shack-units: US Company-Operated (~330+ US-Company-Operated-Shake-Shack-units + emerging-Drive-Thru-and-digital-and-loyalty); Licensed International (~240+ international-Licensed-Shake-Shack-units Middle-East-Kuwait-Saudi-Arabia-Alshaya-Group + UK-Maxwell-Group + Hong-Kong-Maxim's + Singapore + Japan-Sansei-Restaurant-Systems + Korea-SPC-Group + China-Maxim's-Catering + Mexico-and-Latin-America-Alsea + Philippines). Revenue mix: Company-Operated ~90-95% (US-Company-Operated + emerging-Drive-Thru-and-digital-and-loyalty); Licensed ~5-10% (international-Licensed-Royalty-and-Fee). Customer base: US-and-international-premium-fast-casual-burger-customer + emerging-Drive-Thru-customer + emerging-digital-and-loyalty-Member + multi-cycle-urban-and-suburban-consumer. Competes in premium-fast-casual-burger + fast-casual-restaurant space with Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG most-direct-Chipotle-fast-casual-comp), Sweetgreen (SG), Cava Group (CAVA), Wingstop (WING), Texas Roadhouse (TXRH), Cheesecake Factory (CAKE); premium-fast-casual-burger Five Guys (private most-direct-Five-Guys-premium-burger-comp), In-N-Out Burger (private most-direct-In-N-Out-premium-burger-comp), Habit Burger Grill (YUM-acquired 2020), Whataburger (BDT-Capital-acquired 2019 most-direct-Whataburger-premium-burger-comp), Smashburger (CKE-acquired 2019), Steak 'n Shake (Biglari Holdings BH), Culver's (private), Wendy's (WEN most-direct-Wendys-fast-food-burger-comp), Burger King (Restaurant Brands International QSR), McDonald's (MCD largest-fast-food-burger most-direct-larger-McDonalds-comp), Jack in the Box (JACK), Carl's Jr (CKE Restaurants), Sonic (Inspire Brands-acquired 2018), Fatburger (FAT Brands FAT); fast-casual-restaurant Just Salad (private), Chopt Creative Salad (private), Tender Greens (private), Mendocino Farms (private); international-licensee Alshaya Group (private Kuwait + Middle-East), Maxim's Caterers (private Hong Kong + China), SPC Group (private Korea), Sansei Restaurant Systems (private Japan), Alsea (ALSEA-Mexico most-direct-Alsea-Latin-America-licensee-comp), Restaurant Brands International (QSR), Yum-Brands (YUM), Domino's Pizza (DPZ). The second deep-dive — Rob-Lynch + Danny-Meyer-Founder-Chairman + 2015-NYSE-IPO + multi-decade compounder thesis — covers Rob-Lynch-CEO + Papa John's + Arby's + Yum-Brands expertise, founder-Chairman Danny Meyer + Union-Square-Hospitality-Group + ~24+ year founder-chairman leadership-continuity, January-2015-Shake-Shack-NYSE-IPO transformational-platform + multi-cycle-disciplined-bolt-on-M&A + emerging-Drive-Thru-and-digital-and-loyalty, emerging-US-premium-fast-casual-burger cycle + emerging-Drive-Thru + emerging-licensed-and-international + emerging-digital-and-loyalty structural-tailwinds. Multi-cycle-modest-share-buyback: ~$50-150M/yr modest-and-emerging-share-buyback. Multi-decade compounder thesis combines Danny-Meyer-and-Shake-Shack ~24+ year heritage, ~570+ Shake-Shack-units, January-2015-NYSE-IPO + multi-cycle-disciplined-bolt-on-M&A + emerging-Drive-Thru-and-digital-and-loyalty, Rob Lynch + Danny Meyer + Papa John's + Arby's + Yum-Brands expertise, no-regular-dividend + multi-cycle-modest-share-buyback + non-IG-trajectory balance-sheet (multi-cycle-cash-positive), emerging-US-premium-fast-casual-burger + emerging-Drive-Thru + emerging-licensed-and-international + emerging-digital-and-loyalty structural-tailwinds. Capital position is post-NYSE-IPO non-IG (BB-/BB), no-regular-dividend, multi-cycle-modest-share-buyback, multi-cycle-cash-positive: net cash ~$300-400M (zero-leverage), BB-/BB equivalent, $300-400M cash + undrawn revolver liquidity, FCF ~$60-130M/yr deployed into capex ~$120-200M/yr + no dividend + ~$50-150M/yr buyback + multi-cycle-disciplined-bolt-on-M&A + emerging-Drive-Thru-and-digital capex, ~42-44M shares. At ~$85-150 per share, equity value ~$3.6-6.6B, EV ~$3.3-6.3B (net cash), ~70-150x EPS and ~17-35x EV/EBITDA. Base case: US-premium-fast-casual-burger cycle constructive + emerging-Drive-Thru + emerging-licensed-and-international + emerging-digital-and-loyalty + revenue $1.45-1.70B + adj. EBITDA $200-280M + adj. EPS $1.05-1.55 + multi-cycle-modest-share-buyback + ~5-15% return. Bull case: US-premium-fast-casual-burger accelerates + emerging-Drive-Thru inflects-substantially + emerging-licensed-and-international inflects + emerging-digital-and-loyalty inflects + revenue $1.60-1.90B + adj. EBITDA $240-340M + adj. EPS $1.40-2.10 + multi-cycle-modest-share-buyback + selective-M&A + emerging-strategic-acquisition-target (Chipotle + Restaurant-Brands-International + Yum-Brands + McDonald's + private-equity-restaurant interest) + re-rate 80-140x + 25-50%+ return + takeout-premium-upside. Bear case: US-premium-fast-casual-burger stresses + emerging-Drive-Thru disappoints + emerging-international disappoints + adj. EPS $0.40-0.60 + de-rate 40-60x + flat-to-substantially-negative.
US Waives Beef Import Tariffs for 90 Days on 300,000 Tonnes
Trump waived out-of-quota tariffs on up to 300,000 tonnes of ground beef for 90 days on 2026-08-21. Burger chains rallied; the cattle and chicken side did not move.
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Shake Shack Inc. company profile
Overview
Shake Shack Inc. (NYSE:SHAK) is a premium fast-casual restaurant chain that was founded in 2001 as a hot dog cart in Madison Square Park, New York City. The company went public in January 2015 and has since expanded to operate hundreds of restaurants across the United States and internationally. Shake Shack positions itself as an upscale alternative to traditional fast food, emphasizing high-quality ingredients, hospitality-focused service, and a distinctive brand experience that commands premium pricing in the competitive restaurant industry.
Business
Shake Shack operates in the fast-casual restaurant segment, which sits between traditional fast food and full-service dining. The company's core offering revolves around premium burgers, chicken sandwiches, hot dogs, crinkle-cut fries, and frozen custard-based shakes. Fast-casual restaurants typically feature higher-quality ingredients than fast food chains, made-to-order preparation, and a more upscale dining environment, while maintaining the convenience and speed associated with quick-service restaurants. The company operates through two primary business segments. The company-operated restaurants segment represents approximately 95% of total revenue, generating around $1.2 billion annually from directly owned and operated locations primarily in the United States. These restaurants serve the core menu of hamburgers made with antibiotic-free beef, crispy chicken sandwiches, crinkle-cut fries, and signature frozen custard shakes, along with beer and wine at select locations. The licensing business segment accounts for roughly 5% of revenue, generating approximately $45-50 million annually through franchise fees and royalties from licensed operators. This segment includes both domestic licensed locations and international partnerships across 20 countries, allowing Shake Shack to expand its global footprint without direct capital investment. Licensed partners pay initial fees and ongoing royalties typically based on sales performance, providing a higher-margin revenue stream for the company.
Revenue model
Shake Shack generates revenue primarily through direct restaurant sales from its company-operated locations, where customers pay for food and beverages at the point of sale. The average check per customer ranges from $12-15, with revenue driven by transaction volume, average order value, and the number of operating locations. The company also earns licensing fees and royalties from franchised locations, typically structured as a percentage of franchisee sales plus initial franchise fees. The company's customers are primarily middle to upper-middle-class consumers who are willing to pay premium prices for higher-quality fast-casual dining. Unlike traditional fast food chains that compete primarily on price and convenience, Shake Shack targets customers who prioritize ingredient quality, brand experience, and are less price-sensitive. This positioning allows the company to maintain higher average selling prices and profit margins compared to traditional quick-service restaurants. Several factors can significantly impact Shake Shack's profitability. Labor costs represent the largest expense, and the company's margins are sensitive to minimum wage increases, labor market tightness, and employee turnover rates. Commodity price inflation for beef, chicken, dairy, and other key ingredients directly affects food costs, though the company can partially offset this through strategic menu pricing. Real estate costs and availability in prime urban and suburban locations influence both expansion opportunities and ongoing occupancy expenses. The company's premium positioning provides some insulation from economic downturns, but consumer discretionary spending patterns during recessions can still impact traffic and sales growth. Competition from both traditional fast food chains upgrading their offerings and new fast-casual entrants can pressure market share and pricing power.
Competitive moat
Shake Shack's competitive moat is moderately strong but not insurmountable, built primarily on brand differentiation and operational execution rather than structural advantages. The company's premium brand positioning creates customer loyalty and pricing power within the fast-casual segment, supported by its origin story, quality reputation, and distinctive restaurant experience. This brand equity allows Shake Shack to command higher prices than traditional fast food while maintaining customer traffic. The company's operational expertise in premium fast-casual execution represents another defensive element, including supply chain relationships for high-quality ingredients, restaurant design and atmosphere creation, and training systems that deliver consistent hospitality-focused service. These capabilities create barriers for new entrants seeking to replicate the full Shake Shack experience. However, the moat faces significant challenges. Large quick-service restaurant chains like McDonald's, Burger King, and Wendy's have been upgrading their ingredients, restaurant designs, and service models to compete more directly with fast-casual concepts. These established players have substantial advantages in scale, real estate access, marketing budgets, and operational efficiency. New fast-casual entrants continue to emerge with similar quality positioning, and the segment lacks high switching costs or network effects that create customer lock-in. The restaurant industry's relatively low barriers to entry mean that successful concepts can be replicated, and food delivery platforms have commoditized restaurant access, potentially weakening location-based advantages. Overall, while Shake Shack has built a strong brand and operational platform, its moat is primarily dependent on continued execution excellence rather than structural competitive protection.
Risks & safety
Shake Shack maintains a strong financial position with substantial liquidity but faces valuation concerns at current levels. • Cash and liquidity: $321 million in cash and short-term investments with minimal debt, providing significant financial flexibility • Solvency risk: Very low, with current ratio of 1.97x and strong cash generation from operations ($171 million in 2024) • Free cash flow: Positive but modest at $36 million annually, with significant capital requirements for new restaurant development • Debt levels: Conservative debt-to-equity ratio of 1.72x, primarily consisting of lease obligations rather than traditional debt • Valuation metrics: EV/EBITDA of 48x appears expensive relative to growth prospects and industry peers • Profitability: Low net margins around 1% with ROE of 2.2%, indicating limited earnings power relative to asset base • Growth requirements: High valuation requires sustained execution of expansion and margin improvement plans • Other considerations: Strong balance sheet provides downside protection, but premium valuation leaves little room for execution disappointments or economic headwinds affecting discretionary dining spending.
Recent development
Over the past several years, Shake Shack has undergone a significant operational transformation focused on sustainable profitability rather than pure growth. The company established six strategic priorities in 2024: building leadership culture, optimizing restaurant operations, driving comparable sales growth, improving new unit returns, accelerating licensing business, and investing in long-term capabilities. Key operational improvements include implementing standardized performance scorecards across restaurants, reducing average service times by approximately one minute, and achieving the lowest labor waste levels in company history. The company opened a kitchen innovation lab in Atlanta to test and optimize restaurant processes, and launched leadership development programs including "Shift Up" and "Lead to Succeed" that achieved 100% retention rates among graduates. The company has made substantial progress in unit economics and expansion efficiency. Net build costs for new restaurants decreased from over $2.4 million to a target of $2.2 million, while restaurant-level profit margins expanded to 22.7% in 2024, representing nearly 300 basis points of improvement. Shake Shack opened 43 company-operated locations in 2024 and plans 45-50 new openings in 2025, with increasing focus on drive-through formats and suburban markets. Technology and customer engagement initiatives have become central to the strategy, with plans to launch a comprehensive loyalty platform in 2025 and continued investment in digital menu boards and ordering systems. The licensing business has expanded to 250 locations across 20 countries, including new partnerships like Delta Airlines for airport locations. The company has also enhanced its culinary innovation program with strategic limited-time offerings and seasonal menu development to drive customer frequency and average order values.
SHAK company profile · for informational purposes only — not investment advice.
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